A UK company has launched a competition to send one lucky database administrator into space.

All the fortunate BOFH has to do is answer some sci-fi based video quiz questions online, complete some simple SQL tasks and fill in an application form. Oh, and survive an X-Factor-style vote-off where the talent in question is their tweeting wit.

Cambridge software company Red Gate is running the competition, which will put the winner on a Space Adventures flight into suborbital space, a trip that normally costs around $110,000 (£68,950).

According to the competition website, Red Gate is hosting this competition because "it has always been a keen supporter of the SQL Server community..." and believes "DBAs, the exceptional individuals who manage the smooth running of our planet's data supply, have been under-appreciated too long". Awwww, sweet of them.

Apart from being exceptional, these BOFHs are apparently not above a bit of cheeky cheating either, according to a Red Gate rep.

He told The Register that a competitor had deliberately sabotaged the Wikipedia page for the Mars Rover Opportunity to make it harder to find the answer to one of the quiz questions. The saboteur also added the warning "DBAs don't belong in space. Only in basements" to the Wikipage (see the revision history here (unknown naughty DBA's comment is second from the top).

The competition is running until 18 November and is open to BOFHs from the UK, US, Canada, Australia and Germany. ®